2023 Yale Medal Recipients

Since its inception, the Yale Medal, the highest honor presented by the Yale Alumni Association, has been presented to 346 individuals who have shown extraordinary devotion to Yale’s ideals and demonstrated their support through extensive, exemplary services to the university and its schools, institutes, and programs.

The 2023 Yale Medalists are Tim Collins ’82 MBA, Andrea DaRif ’73, ’74 MFA, Ed Hirs ’79, ’79 MA, ’81 MBA, John Jackson ’67, and David Sanchez ’84 MA, ’84 MPhil. They will be officially honored in a special ceremony to be held this fall.

Please read below for more on each of the recipients and their important contributions.

Tim Collins ’82 MBA

Tim Collins’s decades of service to Yale have advanced academic excellence and significantly impacted high-level strategy, students, and many stakeholders across Yale and the programs at the schools of Management, Divinity, and Law. Since 2014, Collins has brought his global business knowledge to the President’s Council on International Activities, providing invaluable guidance to help advance Yale’s global presence and international agenda. He has been a dedicated volunteer for the School of Management, co-chairing the Alumni Consultative Search Committee for the new dean from 2018-2019 and serving as the Yale SOM Board of Advisors chair since 2012. During his tenure, Collins has served as a trusted advisor to five Yale SOM deans. At the Divinity School, Collins has been a key member of the Divinity School Dean’s Advisory Council, a volunteer on the council’s special task force, and a trusted advisor to Dean Gregory Sterling. Collins has also lent his expertise to students by guest lecturing at the Law School and as a Senior Becton Fellow and director of the Becton Fellowship Program at Yale School of Management from 2015-2018. Collins’s exemplary service and contributions to Yale have extended to many corners of the university, improving it for generations to come.

Andrea DaRif ’73, ’74 MFA

Andrea DaRif is a dedicated and long-serving volunteer known for her unfailing readiness to roll up her sleeves and take on responsibilities wherever Yale needs her. She has steadfastly served the Yale College Class of 1973 in several leadership roles, including class secretary, and assisted in organizing the 45th and 50th reunions and an innovative cluster reunion with the classes of 1971, 1972, and 1973. She also lent her talents to the 50WomenatYale150 steering committee, which celebrated the first female students to attend Yale College (of whom DaRif is one) with a weekend of events in 2019 and a range of longer-term initiatives to preserve the history of the early years of undergraduate coeducation. Among her many contributions to the committee, DaRif is particularly remembered for designing and producing a commemorative silk scarf and planning a movie night program of archival documentaries about coeducation that truly enhanced the celebration for all of the attendees. Regionally, DaRif is an active member of the Yale Club of New York City, where she has served on the club’s council and has done extensive work as a member of the Library Committee, with the goal of making the club a place where Yalies can revisit the intellectual stimulation of their New Haven years. In addition to her support of the alumni community, DaRif has served as a fellow of Saybrook for the past thirteen years and was recently appointed Executive Fellow of the college, a role in which she works with the head of college and the dean to foster a sense of community and camaraderie among Saybrook students. In addition, she mentors first-year students, offering counsel and advice as they adjust to life at Yale.

Edward A. Hirs III ’79, ’79 MA, ’81 MBA

Ed Hirs has been a resolute volunteer for over forty years, well-known as a “doer” who consistently raises his hand and steps forward for the good of Yale. In 2008 he founded the Yale Alumni in Energy (YAE) shared interest group and annual conference to bring together alumni, students, and faculty to network and discuss cutting-edge issues in climate and energy. The conference has become a model in the community for convening Yale leaders from different backgrounds to think and work together for policy, research, and investment. Hirs has been a dedicated and consistent leader for the Yale College Class of 1979, serving multiple stints as a reunion chair or co-chair, encouraging both reunion attendance and class gifts with programmatic innovations and Yale’s first online alumni directory. Regionally, Hirs has served in instrumental leadership roles at the Yale Club of Houston and the Yale School of Management Houston Chapter where he has been a long-time supporter of admissions activities and alumni gatherings. Hirs served on the YAA Board of Governors from 2002-2005 as a member of the Finance, Nominations, and Elections committees, and as chair of the Alumni Fellow Nominating Committee. He continues to mentor alumni and students through the YAA, Yale SOM, and as a fellow of Timothy Dwight College. His broad and sustained contributions are a prime exhibit of the importance of volunteerism in the Yale alumni community.  

John Jackson ’67

John Jackson ’67 has been a devoted university leader over a 60-year relationship with Yale. He served as regional co-chair for the …and for Yale Campaign in 1991 and currently serves as honorary co-chair on the for Humanity campaign committee. Jackson is a member of the President’s Council on International Activities, which he chaired for eight years. Prior to Yale, Jackson was educated at the Gordonstoun School in Scotland, spent his Yale Junior year abroad in Paris at L’Institut de Science Politiques, and earned an MBA from INSEAD, France. His career in international business further fostered a keen awareness of world issues, and in 2009 Jackson made a transformative gift to establish the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale. This hub of faculty members and Senior Fellows educating students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels flourished, and in 2019 the Yale Corporation voted to transform the institute into the Jackson School of Global Affairs, the first new professional school created at the university since the School of Management in 1976. Jackson’s engagement with the new school continues, with service on the Board of Advisors. He has also cultivated a strong connection to the Yale University Art Gallery through the gift of his Numismatic Collection, including an endowed curatorship. Over the years, Jackson’s contributions and advisements have changed the landscape of Yale, helping equip the university to train the leaders of tomorrow to address global problems and to create public policy that will contribute to the world and shape a better future for all humanity.

David Sanchez ’84 MA, ’84 MPhil

David Sanchez is a dedicated volunteer with four decades of service to Yale and its alumni community. He is known to be simply unstoppable once he identifies a need. This is best exemplified by his role as co-founder and inaugural chair of the Yale Day of Service (YDOS) for its first two years. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the YDOS annually involves thousands of Yale alumni worldwide. Sanchez was instrumental in launching this new program concept, fashioned YDOS service projects for many Yale Clubs from scratch while building a strong foundation and vital partnerships throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Singapore to ensure the program’s success and long-term growth. Sanchez’s reputation as a trailblazer who gets things done has also resulted in his being elected to lead the Yale Latino Alumni Network (YLAN) serving over 7500 Latinx alumni. As chair and co-founder, he recruited the network’s inaugural board and has provided financial resources to ensure YLAN’s continued success. He also served as the president of the Yale Club of South Florida (YCSF) for fifteen years where he revitalized the organization by expanding membership and helping to establish an all-Ivy+ association of regional alumni clubs. Sanchez served twice on the YAA Board of Governors, first in an ex-officio capacity as president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate and subsequently as a board member from 2009 to 2012. He currently serves on the Graduate School Alumni Association Board and was recently elected secretary. Overall, Sanchez has inspired volunteer service to the university on many fronts, from the ground up to the highest levels, with his efforts redounding to the ultimate benefit of Yale and its alumni body.